Post lessons you've learned being an online entrepreneur

Here's a few that REALLY HELPED ME grow one of my companies from a one man operation to 45+ employees and growing:

1) Do NOT be afraid to start small -- Giant companies are built one experience, one satisfied customer, one solved problem at a time. Many people have this "Get Rich Quick" and "Something for Nothing" mentality. If you have those notions, lose them... QUICKLY. While things may be small when you're building, things happen for a reason and it's your JOB to maximize your personal education from each experience and from each project.

2) It may take Money to make money but TIME is also money -- Not all of us can start off with $$$$ in venture funding. Indeed, sometimes having too much seed capital ends up with the company members feeling pampered and just friterring the cash away. I ought to know, I used to work for a venture capital firm in the Dotcom Mania of late 90's. The firm I word for funded several companies millions of dollars. All of them have gone belly up. I didn't want to repeat the same mistakes for my own personal ventures. Initially, I started 2 companies: 1 with $2000 in 1998 and 1 with $4000+ in 2003. My 1998 academic services company now makes $85 to $120K a year CONSISTENTLY since 1998. My second company is now at over 45+ employees. How was it done? By realizing that some types of companies need FOCUS and TIME more than CAPITAL. By pleasing our customers and giving them what they wanted, we were able to turn the time we used in finetuning our services into a reliable asset which enhances customer value. Hence, we've turned time into MONEY. We were able to charge less and do stuff for free initially. This later paid off in the form of enhanced customer value which resulted in a loyal client base and high client value (they spend less but get more--our company is more efficient and makes more money even at lower rates). It is not QUICK nor is it EASY. But it can be done. Don't ever think you don't have enough money. If you have TIME you can turn it into money to fund your business.

3) It is ALWAYS your fault -- The most crippling mentality to have when it comes to business is to always blame another person for your failings. Lose this. Even if it seems black and white that it is not your fault--OWN the situation and understand how you ALLOWED things to happen. It is only if we 1) OWN our failings and 2) LEARN from them that we succeed.

4) Inspired by Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad -- Grow your ASSET column. I began to look at my newer website developments/projects as real estate properties and strategic investments. Not all sites I develop should be kept. Others should be grown up to a certain stage then sold off to people looking for stable middling revenues. Others have the potential to be BIG acquisition targets. Regardless, some principles regarding real estate investment help in deciding a) what ideas to develop b) how to mold projects for maximum resale value c) how to mold projects for easier traffic/brand formation d) exit strategies f) MOST IMPORTANTLY, developing only ASSET projects--those that add value to your bottomline instead of "white elephant" projects that have the allure of "gee whiz" technology but are just liabilities that bleed your company.

Anyway, those are some of the principles that I implement across all my online properties. They work for me and I'm sure they'll work for those who take the time to implement them.

Please share your personal business philosophies!

 

Think REAL hard about the business model before you start. If you develop a system which the customer depends on for their business to operate, you will get midnight calls when it breaks. It won't matter if the problem is under your control or not.

It is terribly easy to create a "business" which is really a poorly paid job.

 

I always keep this saying in mind:

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Jim

 

Noted all the above, good motivation for me

 

Very good point. The amount of customer interaction is definitely one issue that is underappreciated/neglected when it comes to assessing business models. Another element that needs additional information is a PROMOTIONAL model within business models. In essence, will the model REPLICATE ITSELF virally?

 

This is an excellent thread.

I hope more people decide to post.

Some things I've learned:

1) If you have clients, a simple "Thank You" will go a long way. I send thank you cards to all my clients because I truly appreciate their business.

2) There is such a thing as working too much. Every once in awhile you need to take a break or else you will get burned out and not want to do it anymore.

3) You have to have a business that you LOVE. If you are just in it for the money your interest will fade. (I learned this the hard way.)

4) Have a plan. Don't just haphazardly throw up a few sites without thinking about your overall goals.

5) Don't get discouraged easily. If you have a plan, have faith in yourself and don't be afraid to have a little patience.

 

Lesson I learnt - You don't have to have the best .com name for your website to be the best so just keep going!

 

“Patience is necessary, and one cannot reap immediately where one has sown.”

- Danish Philosopher

 

Have a long term goal and plan accordingly.
Divide the goal into smaller goals to avoid frustration and keep going.

regards
jeet

 

Do NOT expect encouragement from non-self employed friends and family! The longer you are in business for yourself, the farther your beliefs about how the world works will diverge from theirs. They are SURE the way they see the world is correct and will give you all sorts of advice that is just plain dumb.

 

This has been my approach for the past 2 years and has been doing quite well for me. I lurk in the buy sell trade forums on many forums looking for potential investments or selling off matured properties of my own.

People don't seem to understand why I get so upset when they don't treat their sales threads like a property sale. Maybe they should read your article here

Oh yeah my tip...... watch the news, stay up on current events.

 

I couldn't agree more. Just don't be like me and let all of your assets depreciate before you get around to finding a buyer. Stay on top of it.

 

My experience for the past 4 years:

Things I learned the hard way:

• NEVER work for family members, they always want premium service at no-cost and you have to do it. While you work for them at lost cost or for free, you're not making money nor looking for customers. Family members are you worse customers.
• NEVER listen to professional 'advisors', they are expensive and they tell you hows but they don't or can't do it themselves. There are often just good at writting books. The worse are the marketting ones, they made me loose so much time and money...
• NEVER take more work than you can do, running 2 rabbits at the same time, you loose both.
• NEVER get too excited by a job you may miss red flags and or critical path. Been there done that

Things I do and still do:

• When you start, reinvest everything you earn. If you need cash to eat, take a 2nd job. Each $ reinvested in early age is worth thousand of $$$.
• Follow this one: "if you can't track it, you can't fix it" (I don't know who said that, may be it just me ).
• Get a mentor, someone older with decades of experience in business (if not in your business line, it's not a problem). It's free and it's the best source of recomfort, analysis, recommendations. Sometimes mine is really pissing me off... but guess what! he is right 99% of the time.
• Don't lie to yourself, it hurts more than you can imagine.
• Babysit your customers even the tiny one. If a customer feels he/she is your only customer you get a customer for life and word of mouth is your best marketting plan and it's free.
• Don't be afraid of mistakes. All the mistakes we made and resolved made customers know that they can count on us in case of problems.
• During the first years, dream about your next dream luxury vacation (call me for that) it keeps you up and running but don't let your family dreaming about it... it's never for tomorrow. (vacation or dream car or... you pick)

Well that was a long one.

 

You don't have to do everything yourself. Learn to outsource routine work. It may cost you a bit to outsource some work but in the long run you will profit through better use of your time.

Warm regards,
Bina.

 

More than true...

Outsource when the cost is less than what you sell your time obviously

 

This is an excellent thread.

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Don't end up in your own little shell. Listen to other people's views and ideas, they are giving away potential money for free. Some of my best ideas have come from other people, you just have to learn to listen.
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Also, about Robert Kiyosaki, Id say we are in a pretty dam good field, where the average investment has 100% yearly ROI

 

Learn by doing. Once you have made some initial research start working. Then keep working and adjust your plan. The most important thing is to keep working while adjusting your strategy.

 

I really don't agree with that. My time has always been better spent developing sites than getting a job in macdonalds. If you really need to eat, go live with your parents while you build up your empire, but never sink as low as a job in macdonalds.

 

Don't forget to educate yourself. If you are not growing, you are dying. It's as simple as that.

Learn to change. I have been making money for 11 years on the Net and if I did not know how to morph and see new paths, I would not be here today.

Appreciate the small order and treat the small customer like royalty. You need to respect all business. Remember, a small order is just a larger order in waiting.

See if your local college offers courses in small business management, accounting, and so forth. If you can't plan and manage, you won't be around for long and you will miss out on your true potential.

Don't sit back when money is flowing good. A dry spell is just around the corner.

 

Don't get complacent. It's important to evaluate what you're doing well and even more importantly figure out what you're not. Continue to strive for improvement and find a way to take what you're doing and make it better.

Remember, just when you think you've made it is when you're in trouble. People who are successful are always working to get better. Sounds like an obsessive mentality, but even small things make a difference and there's always at least one little thing, no matter how small, that you can do to make your business more successful.

Ian